NEW DELHI: The two opposing cellular mobile phone camps have hardened their stand on the criteria for additional allocation of spectrum, a key factor in ensuring quality of service for the growing number of subscribers.

While the GSM group, led by Bharti, has reportedly resolved to approach the Prime Minister's Office, the opposing CDMA camp, led by Reliance, has urged the Government to de-link subscriber numbers as a criterion for releasing spectrum, and provide additional frequencies to both CDMA and GSM service providers based on equal criteria.

The GSM mobile service providers, whose combined base crossed seven crore last month, are in favour of airwaves being allocated on the basis of subscriber strength.

They have recently petitioned the Government asking it to uphold that criterion. The rival group has now come out with a fresh reasoning for opposing the allocation of additional frequency on the basis of new subscribers enrolled by phone companies.

According to the CDMA Development Group, the new norms will not provide enough capacity to service providers to deploy data and broadband services in the foreseeable future, even though the provision of such services is allowed under the current license.

The new norms will not only deprive consumers access to Internet and value-added services but also militate against the country's economic interest because the impact of every one per cent increase in Internet penetration on GDP (gross domestic product) is two times greater than a similar increase in voice only services.

The Group also argued that the ``approach of assigning unequal spectrum to CDMA and GSM service providers in the proportion of 1:2 is unique to India, in contradiction to the guidance of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and also not aligned with international best practice''.

It has hence demanded that all additional spectrum assignments to CDMA and GSM service providers must be equal.

It also notes that the basis for this assignment criterion shall become null and void, as soon as the GSM operators migrate to WCDMA for enabling enhanced services.

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